Since this is the First Sunday of Lent, I have a Lenten question for you. It’s this: when was the last time you had a really good temptation? But if this question makes you uncomfortable, I have another one: when was the last time you had a really good test? For those who are still in school, you might think about one of your history tests, or English tests. But if you are over age thirty-five, you might recall a medical test – a test to help diagnose a health problem.
I think you would agree there are many different kinds of tests. Besides academic tests and medical tests, there are physical tests – tests which measure how strong things might be, like a stress test to determine what force is needed to break a piece of metal. You can also have a test of physical skills, like the Olympic tests to determine who skates the fastest, or ski jumps the longest.
Yet, no matter what kind of a test you take, they all have something in common. Testing determines what needs to be improved, what needs to be changed. Testing, itself, leads to a question: where do you go from here?
This is really what today’s gospel reading is all about. Mark’s version, which we heard today, says Jesus went out to the wasteland for forty days, where he was “put to the test.” In the other gospels, the test questions are described in greater detail and are called the “temptations of Jesus.” But whether the word “testing” or “temptation” is used, the results are the same. This was the time for Jesus to discover who he really was; what he was called to do.
Do you remember when this testing occurred? It happened immediately after his baptism by John and his hearing the words: ” … you are my beloved son. On you my favor rests.” The very next line in Mark’s account reads: “… at that point the spirit sent him out toward the desert.” Jesus, in accord with the Spirit which moves with him, had the need to go off and determine what all of this meant. He was given an opportunity to learn who he was and what he had to do.
So, just what had he learned? What must he do?
● First, change, itself, is mandatory in order to usher in the Reign of God, the Kingdom of God.
● Second, action is required by everyone who is to share in the Reign of God.
● And third, he must go and teach this to others.
And so he went off to proclaim the Good News: ” … this is the time of fulfillment. The Reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the Good News.” In his proclamation Jesus offered two challenges: first, … reform your lives. Make the changes that are necessary. Reform. Change. Repent. They all mean the same thing.
And the second challenge: “… believe in the good news.” And what is this “good news”? That there is a new covenant with God. Our first reading from the book of Genesis speaks of the first covenant of God with his people, the covenant made with Noah and all of his descendants after him and with all of the creatures of the earth, with “all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were in the ark.” All of them are now under God’s protection from destruction by the waters of the flood.
Do you recall why God had sent the flood? It was to wash away all evil and to bring about a new beginning. The first Christians saw in those flood waters, a symbol of the waters of baptism. Peter in the second reading we heard today, reminds the followers of Christ of the relationship of the waters of the flood and the waters of baptism, of how the waters of baptism wash away the sins of the past in order to bring about new life.
New life is what Lent is also all about. Lent is a time to prepare for the “new life” of Easter. Lent is a time to determine what needs to be changed in order to allow for “new life” to burst forth from the tomb of the past. Lent is a time of testing, of discovering what has already been learned and what still needs to be changed.
Sometimes testing is equated with temptations. As I said, the other gospels describe the “temptations” of Jesus. Actually, the Latin word, temptation, means testing. Some of you may even recall that a final line in the “Our Father” prayer, “…lead us not into temptation … “ can be translated as “… let us not be put to the test…” It is our prayer that the test we undertake will not break us; the temptations will not be too great for us to bear.
And we are assured these tests will not be too great for us. God does not give us test questions we cannot answer. God, unlike an engineer, does not test us to the breaking point to see what we are made of. God, our creator, already knows what we are made of. He does not force us to undergo a stress-test, but, rather, he provides each one of us with an opportunity to discover what we have learned about ourselves. He gives us an opportunity for improvement.
During the next forty days of Lent, we have an opportunity to discover what we have learned about who we are and who we are called to be. Each one of us can discover how generous we are in giving of our time and our talents to others. We can discover how thankful we are for what God has given us and how we can share these gifts with others.
Lent is not so much a time for suffering as it is a time for almsgiving, an old-fashioned word for giving assistance to those less fortunate; a word which comes from a Greek word meaning “compassion”. In the past, many people seemed to have focused on the suffering which accompanies giving something up we really desire to keep – like a piece of chocolate cake after dinner or a dish of ice cream before going to bed.
But Lent is not a time of suffering so much as it is a time for growth. And while some would say: “no pain, no gain.” the focus should not be on the pain of Lent but rather the prayer of Lent. For in addition to almsgiving, there is a continuing need for prayer.
In order for Jesus to be put to the test, in order to discover what he had learned about himself, and what he needed to do, Jesus went off, alone, into the wilderness to pray. We too, are called to follow his example. We do not need to find a desert; but we do need to find a deserted place, a place to be alone for a few moments each day so God can ask us his questions, so we can discover who we are in his sight.
Yes, the forty days of Lent do provide temptations – opportunities for testing – to see who we are; to see what needs to be changed; where we need to re-form our lives in order to partake fully in the life of the risen Christ and to be, truly, Easter people.
First Sunday in Lent; February 20, 1994
Gn 9:8-15; 1 Pt 3:18-22; Mk 1:12-15